Friday, May 29, 2009

Wednesday, May 27, 2009
They're not all gone



Dana from Flatwoods Outfitters landing this nice'un in the high 50 pound range this morning. We bait fished for cobia about an hour, then ventured out a litte deeper and out of the rain. Hearing the big reports from the "Godfather of Grouper", Capt. Ray, I tried a couple of places and we even caught a grouper and pulled a couple off, also some sharks and nice sea bass, all in a half day. A very nice run in, until we hit the rain.
posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 9:54 PM


Monday, May 25, 2009
from Capt. Brian Harrington

We had 60 gaffers (dolphin) yesterday.................930 lbs of meat............crowd left the dock with a u-haul.
posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 5:50 PM
From Capt. Joe Shute

Just an updated fishing report from here at Capt. Joe Shute's Bait & Tackle and Fish Finder Charters. Probably the hottest offshore dolphin bite that I have see in the last few years is going on right now. From 2 miles inshore of the 14 bouy all the way out to the Big Rock the Gaffer dolphin from 10 to 30 lbs. are as thick as I have seen. Whether you are trolling, or wanting to catch dolphin on the fly, now is the time to do it if the winds will let you out there. For those of you looking for larger fish, which I unfortunately can't help with, the blue marlin bite is off the hook as well. Large numbers of quality blue marlin (300 lb and up) are very numerous right now. They are in here feeding on all the dolphin that are around. Just in time for the Big Rock Blue Marlin tournament in a few weeks.

The inshore fishing for cobia is still going on and the Spanish mackerel fishing is pretty good as well. Amberjacks are starting to show up on the near shore wrecks and reefs too. The fishing for redfish is picking up and there are a few speckled trout starting to show up.
I hope everyone is doing well and if I can help you catch a few fish just give me a call.

Good Luck & Good Fishing,

Capt. Joe Shute

.....and I'll echo the great dolphin fishing, also plenty of Spansih along the beach, Capt. Ray had a fantastic day with the grouper yesterday. The cobia....well, let's just say that the first two weeks of May were fantastic, but that cold nor'easter has shut them down for now. The water temps have finally warmed, hopefully the cobia fishing will heat up as well. Big bluefish on the shoals for some pretty cool sight casting to these 10-15 pounders on light tackle.....Capt. George
posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 5:23 PM


Friday, May 22, 2009
good trout fish'n



Two good reports of trout fishing from Capt. Mark Hoff and Capt. Joe Ward. Sounds like the inshore stuff is really good.
posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 9:46 PM
sucked for us, but great dolphin bite

It really did suck for sight casting cobia today, cold, dirty water everywhere we looked. When we finally made it back to the inlet, things had warmed and I again have high hopes for the next few days.....how's that for a positive attitude.

We did make the day with plenty of giant bluefish and amberjacks, but none of the target species.

Lots of dolphin offshore, may go play with them tomorrow.
posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 6:13 PM
Today is the day?

A serious case of cabin fever needs to be releaved. This May nor'easter has finally subsided, but the water has cooled into the low 60's. Yesterday was the first day to get out and look around for the cobia......not too good. Today is looking a little better, hopefully the skies will stay clear, the seas will start subsiding and hopefully we'll find some warm water. We'll keep you posted.
posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 7:06 AM


Monday, May 18, 2009
stripers, cobia and Costa Rica

Stripers are still going at the Roanoke, got a report from Capt. Greg who caught 60+ fish in just 3 hours this weekend, all on topwater.

Cobia fishing is decent, I just haven't had the chance to get out there. Short trip to Costa Rica last week and I come back to this wonderful weather. Meanwhile Capt. Ray and the other guys have been picking away at them on bait, catching 1 or 2 per trip. I heard a rumor of a boat with a tower who caught 11 sight casting on the shoals the other day. Can't wait to get out after them, hopefully on Wednesday.

Tomorrow we are meeting with some representatives with the Navy who are trying to breath life back into the expansion of the bombing ranges on the Neuse River. We'll keep you posted with how that goes. If you would like to get more involved in this issue, drop me a note.

The short trip to Costa Rica was great, although a little wet up in the mountains. On the coast the weather was good, only a little afternoon shower, during the day, a mix of sun and clouds that kept things cooler than during the "dry" season. The fishing, absolutely incredible. Both the Dragin Fly and the Spanish Fly found trees.

These trees get washed down the rivers and into the ocean during the rainy season. After a few weeks in the ocean, they turn into their own ecosystem, attracting and fostering an amazing amount of life. The one that we found was covered up with all kinds of fish, including hundreds of triggerfish, jacks, triple tails, rainbow runners and more dolphin/dorado/mahi mahi than I've ever seen. Needless to say, we spanked them and half of Jaco was eating fresh dolphin for dinner.

A little further offshore, the Spanish Fly also found a tree, but theirs had been in the water a little longer and was loaded with bigger pelagics: yellowfin tuna and wahoo. The tuna were small, but perfect size for a big circle hook and translated into 3 marlin releases and 4 sailfish
posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 8:58 PM


Saturday, May 09, 2009
Ending the Roanoke with a BANG and the Cobia are Here!!!!!



Although a very tough day on the Roanoke this morning, despite 50+ fish on the fly in a couple hours yesterday afternoon. They are spawning hard on this full moon and they get a little tough sometimes, however, they will bite during some part of the day, you just have to be there to take advantage of it. I won't be there.......

If you wanted a half day on the Roanoke, there are still some of the Down East Certified Guides working the river and we can rig you up.

For me, the season ended with a bang yesterday afternoon.......literally. A couple good buddies of mine were making a few casts after my full day charter. (Sometimes I can't get enough). We were idling up river, away from the crowds, to make another drift. We were catching 4-8 stripers on the fly through every drift. It was right at sunset, running lights on and no other boats within site, until this guy comes around the corner and into the straight away, running right at us. He kept coming and coming, we started yelling, then bailed out of the boat just before impact. Cracked transom and a busted motor, but no injuries, thanks only to the Grace of God. Thank you Jesus, this was a close one. It's hard to swim with white boots.

We did lose two fly rods. Speaking of lost rods on the Roanoke, I caught a nice bait caster, if you lost one, send me an e mail and describe it, I'll be glad to return it. It was rigged up with a bait rig. After snagging the line and pulling it in to find this nice rod/reel, I put a bait on the hook and caught a fish on the first cast. I bet the owner never thought that his lost rod would catch another fish. He was very, very wrong.

The cobia pic is courtesy of Capt. Brian Harrington, these are the 4 nice keepers of the 7 cobia that he caught two days ago. I'm itching to go and we still have a few openings.
posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 2:44 PM


Tuesday, May 05, 2009



posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 9:41 AM
Big morning for one angler

Topwater action is getting better and better, especially early and late. We had one angler yesterday morning who landed 80 plus stripers on the fly in a half day. We have also broken Capt. Jack's curse, using up some of the last big fish baits in the livewell.
posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 9:33 AM


Sunday, May 03, 2009
Now we're catching

This morning was epic. Instead of trying to keep up with the number of fish that we caught, quickly loosing track and instead counting the number of consecutive casts and doubles that we caught fish. Good stuff. Looks like it's going to be a heavy spawn this afternoon with the topwater action firing off.
posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 12:43 PM


Saturday, May 02, 2009
disapointment

That's all I can say for the expectations we had of switching to the fly and hammering the stripers now that the river is less crowded and the keeper season is over. Dropping water put a squash on our plans and we struggled the last two days. Things fired off this afternoon with my single angler catching 30 on the fly this afternoon. I would have high expectations for tomorrow, but they are planning on dropping the water through Monday. Then, things should stabilize and get on fire again, with the return of 100 fish days on the fly.....per person.
posted by Capt. George Beckwith at 10:03 PM